If you like Shallow Grave/Trainspotting-era Danny Boyle, go and see Trance. Don't apply 'well, that wouldn't happen' logic to it, and don't try and second-guess the plot; just enjoy Boyle telling a great story and telling it well.

hellsfoxes -> Utter Horseshit (28/3/2013 2:21:33 AM)

Amazing camera shots and color aside, this was incredibly, shockingly bad. Watching a swaggering, flashy movie waving it's sparkling cock in your face with so little interest put into making the audience give a shit about anything or anyone is abusively offensive. Can you believe this was the same man that invested his previous thrillers with so much emotion and clarity? Trance single handedly destroys the montage. Thousands of juxtapositions adding up to less than nothing. Imagine being invited to a high class orgy but instead being strung up by a biker and forced to autoerotic asphyxiate while chugging Bacardi Breezer. That's Trance. Danny Boyle needs to lay off the shrooms and read a book.

R W -> RE: Trance (28/3/2013 5:32:44 PM)

2012 was a busy year for the British, as not only did the Olympics happened with us Brits doing terrifically well, but Danny Boyle directed the opening ceremony which was best known for the Queen jumping out of a helicopter whilst accompanied by Daniel Craig as James Bond. During this time, Boyle was making his tenth feature, a thriller in which the mind is as complicated as a labyrinth.

Simon (James McAvoy) is a fine art auctioneer who gets mixed up with a criminal gang led by Frank (Vincent Cassel) joins forces with a hypnotherapist (Rosario Dawson) to recover a lost painting. As boundaries between desire, reality and hypnotic suggestion begin to blur, the stakes rise faster than anyone could have anticipated.

At its very first frame, the whole film plays likes a rollercoaster with McAvoy’s cool narration, the intense action and the heart-thumping techno music by Underworld’s Rick Smith. At no point, does the film take a deep breath as we the audience go through a visceral experience, much like the characters. Co-written by John Hodge, Trance (partially based on a 2001 British television film of the same name) is fairly reminiscent of the director’s debut Shallow Grave which was about three people whose greed and obsession creates conflict with one another.

Although Trance isn’t as chilling as Shallow Grave despite the similarities, the film manages to be its own thing, due to Anthony Dod Mantle’s stunning cinematography and the fictional use of hypnotism which allows the plot to feel like a puzzle that slowly unravels. Since Boyle always pays close attention of the visuals, Trance suffers from moments of style over substance, while the continuing twists in the narrative which though unexpected, are rather conventional reveals.

Never has a sexy group of actors who not only get their kit off, but all play rather distasteful individuals. Having establishing himself as a great actor years ago, finally working with Danny Boyle, the Scot great James McAvoy is the new Ewan McGregor. In the lead role of Simon, McAvoy acts out various different emotions and presenting a very twisted and physical performance that can unexpectedly goes sideways. While Vincent Cassel who is good at playing baddies shows a somewhat innocent side as the initial antagonist, the underrated Rosario Dawson triumphs as the attractive hypnotherapist who perhaps has more shadows than the males around her.

One can describe this as a hollow piece, but if you’re a fan of the early Danny Boyle/John Hodge works such as Shallow Grave and A Life Less Ordinary, Trance is a truly visceral experience with strong unsympathetic performances. You know that you’re in Boyle territory once you see a shocking moment of someone’s head.

tysmuse -> Silly fun (29/3/2013 11:39:57 PM)

The trouble with films like Trance is that usually, the secret behind the initial premise is never that interesting. As the secrets/truth emerge, the less interesting it all becomes. But it looks fantastic, well-paced, seldom boring.

dannyandjackie -> Dull beyond Belief (30/3/2013 11:13:43 AM)

I can only assume Danny Boyle is being handled with kid gloves after becoming the golden boy of the olymics as this really is one of the poorest excuses for drama I have seen in a long time..

I can forgive the fact the script/stories at times almost Kubrikal in its lack of cohesiveness, but the problem is the characters are all so dull and uninteresting that as hellsfoxes has pointed out you just dont care about anything after 20mins. IS this really the same man who brought us Shallow Grave and Trainspotting.

Stylistically predictable - "lets shoot from low and use dutch angles and high contrast - that will make it interesting -NOT" .. though admittedly I feel more intimately connected to the tiles in the flat than any of the characters..

filmsunlimited -> Like being put into a trance! (30/3/2013 2:36:39 PM)

Visually a stunning film with action and decent dialogue. However, its one of those films where you have to be concentrating, otherwise you walk out at the end not entirely sure what was going on! Perhaps one for multiple viewings.

Amazing camera shots and color aside, this was incredibly, shockingly bad. Watching a swaggering, flashy movie waving it's sparkling cock in your face with so little interest put into making the audience give a shit about anything or anyone is abusively offensive. Can you believe this was the same man that invested his previous thrillers with so much emotion and clarity? Trance single handedly destroys the montage. Thousands of juxtapositions adding up to less than nothing. Imagine being invited to a high class orgy but instead being strung up by a biker and forced to autoerotic asphyxiate while chugging Bacardi Breezer. That's Trance. Danny Boyle needs to lay off the shrooms and read a book.

Again! Just like last year with Killer Joe, this is neo-noir, Boyle knows what he is doing, clearly some folk, such as here, don't understand the genre (though noir is an atmosphere and not a genre) of film being tackled by Boyle.

JohnChard -> RE: Trance (3/4/2013 4:36:02 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: R W

2012 was a busy year for the British, as not only did the Olympics happened with us Brits doing terrifically well, but Danny Boyle directed the opening ceremony which was best known for the Queen jumping out of a helicopter whilst accompanied by Daniel Craig as James Bond. During this time, Boyle was making his tenth feature, a thriller in which the mind is as complicated as a labyrinth.

Simon (James McAvoy) is a fine art auctioneer who gets mixed up with a criminal gang led by Frank (Vincent Cassel) joins forces with a hypnotherapist (Rosario Dawson) to recover a lost painting. As boundaries between desire, reality and hypnotic suggestion begin to blur, the stakes rise faster than anyone could have anticipated.

At its very first frame, the whole film plays likes a rollercoaster with McAvoy’s cool narration, the intense action and the heart-thumping techno music by Underworld’s Rick Smith. At no point, does the film take a deep breath as we the audience go through a visceral experience, much like the characters. Co-written by John Hodge, Trance (partially based on a 2001 British television film of the same name) is fairly reminiscent of the director’s debut Shallow Grave which was about three people whose greed and obsession creates conflict with one another.

Although Trance isn’t as chilling as Shallow Grave despite the similarities, the film manages to be its own thing, due to Anthony Dod Mantle’s stunning cinematography and the fictional use of hypnotism which allows the plot to feel like a puzzle that slowly unravels. Since Boyle always pays close attention of the visuals, Trance suffers from moments of style over substance, while the continuing twists in the narrative which though unexpected, is rather conventional reveals.

Never has a sexy group of actors who not only get their kit off, but all play rather distasteful individuals. Having establishing himself as a great actor years ago, finally working with Danny Boyle, the Scot great James McAvoy is the new Ewan McGregor. In the lead role of Simon, McAvoy acts out various different emotions and presenting a very twisted and physical performance that can unexpectedly goes sideways. While Vincent Cassel who is good at playing baddies shows a somewhat innocent side as the initial antagonist, the underrated Rosario Dawson triumphs as the attractive hypnotherapist who perhaps has more shadows than the males around her.

One can describe this as a hollow piece, but if you’re a fan of the early Danny Boyle/John Hodge works such as Shallow Grave and A Life Less Ordinary, Trance is a truly visceral experience with strong unsympathetic performances. You know that you’re in Boyle territory once you see a shocking moment of someone’s head.

Good post. I'd argue that there is never style over substance here, all the noirish visuals couple up nicely with the narrative smarts, and it is MEANT to be hollow.

paulyboy -> RE: Trance (4/4/2013 9:42:47 AM)

It was ok.

Didn't quite gel with me like I hoped it would. The first hour is rather wishy washy and McAvoy aside none of the other characters are particularly interesting or likeable. The last 30 minutes redeems things somewhat, but not enough to lift the film above anything but mediocre.

2.5/5

film man aidy -> RE: Trance (4/4/2013 11:46:13 AM)

Empire was on the button with this one. A well deserved **** rating. Not on a par with Trainspotting, but then, what is? Danny Boyle really is one of the best directors out there at the moment. I managed to see this pretty spoiler free in advance( despite all the interviews and promos on tv/radio), and it certainly worked for me. It made a change to watch a high profile release and have it genuinely surprise me throughout it's running time.There was some great writing in this and

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the turnaround with both James McAvoy's and Vicent Cassel's characters was superbly handled. I was concerned towards the finale that we may get an 'Inception' style final shot, but the found payoff very satisfying. And the film was certainly a visual feast. Will be interesting to see how a second viewing plays out on bluray...

Pop Leibel -> RE: Trance (4/4/2013 1:33:45 PM)

What I didn't like:

The vehicle. Hypnotism, the art world and obsessive love are dull subjects for film. The story. Beyond daft. Dawson. Far too many fawning close-ups. And that fanny shot was ridiculous. The music. Just too loud and misplaced; used to confuse and cover cracks in the film. Technique. Fractured narratives and unreliable narrators can be tiresome. Violence. Too gleeful in its gratuitousness.

Overall, the film felt like I was watching something terrible from Guy Ritchie.

mjj -> Treading water (4/4/2013 1:54:00 PM)

It was ok, but nothing special. It was as if Boyle couldn't decide if he wanted it to be Layer Cake or Vertigo...and the end result fell short of both. It looks great, the performances are solid and the plot twists are entertaining, but it feels like Boyle directed it over the phone whilst concentrating on the Olympics..

Dr Lenera -> RE: Treading water (4/4/2013 5:43:26 PM)

WOW! The second great movie of 2013 [the first being Cloud Atlas]. Even if it is Inception meets Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind meets Layer Cake meets Vertigo [as the above poster said]. Stunning film-making telling a great story.

lelandmeeks -> Cinema manure (5/4/2013 7:42:10 PM)

Awful film on so many levels: boring narrative (plodding), dull main character (he would've been killed after 5 mins), constant flashbacks (we learn nothing new each time), stupidly loud music (a thoughtful string score was needed), Rosario Dawson. Why the film is being praised so highly is entirely due to Boyle's name - if it had Uwe Boll's name on it as director it'd be in Kim Newman's Movie Dungeon.

JohnChard -> Socko Excellence. (6/4/2013 6:41:57 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dr Lenera

WOW! The second great movie of 2013 [the first being Cloud Atlas]. Even if it is Inception meets Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind meets Layer Cake meets Vertigo [as the above poster said]. Stunning film-making telling a great story.

Awesome mind meld neo-noir that's brilliantly constructed and performed. A neo-noir head's dream, see it on the big screen for maximum impact.

Actually good Doctor Lenera, I'd say it's more Basic Instinct meets Inception and they both take out a 40s Heist movie for drinks. [;)]

Nothing wrong with that.

blaud -> Boyle Does It Again (6/4/2013 5:07:41 PM)

Trance is a film completely unlike any Danny Boyle has ever attempted before. Stylistically, it is probably the most similar to Sunshine, but thematically, this is an entirely different breed of animal. Tricksy and complex storytelling give way to contrived explanations and climaxes, which are every bit as satisfying as the story itself. The plot is neat but frenzied, managing to deftly leap from mystery to action without sacrificing any of the slickness that is so well built up here. All performances are excellent, especially Cassel, who displays his exceptional talent every chance he gets here. Boyle's direction is smart and works brilliantly given the context, and the production very much echoes a similarly-themed film, Red Lights. There are a few occasions when the script seems a little trite and Dawson's opening act is a little shaky, but as a whole, it functions excellently, and ensures Britain's golden boy more well-deserved acclaim.

SarahBanks195 -> RE: Boyle Does It Again (8/4/2013 3:51:12 PM)

See know I really liked this film I thought it definitely had some connection to his early work like Shallow Grave and I think the twists made it easier to stay alert and keep watching unlike many films where they drift off, with this I didn't drift for one second

This review though just annoys me and I think its because they are a little harsh http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XWM50q0HVg as what alot of people have to remember it was done while he was doing the Olympics and I think we need to just remember that as yes it may not be up there with some of his other films but it is one of the best films ive seen this year

bretty -> Confused. Please help (10/4/2013 11:47:42 PM)

Mr Boyle is a national treasure and a director of style. But this was never much above interesting and I came out still not quite sure what the Hell it was all about. Maybe I am just thick.

By the time Trance arrives Danny Boyle has already achieved so much. An Academy Award for Slumdog Millionaire, orchestrating the opening ceremony at the London Olympics and making one of the classic films of the last twenty 25 or so years Trainspotting. But he’s still underrated if that’s possible. Not spoken of in the same breath as Spielberg, Scorsese or Nolan yet his dazzling eclectic films deserve the status. He made this film whilst he was preparing the opening ceremony and a production in London’s West End.

First of all the soundtrack to Trance is sensational. Rick Smith who has worked on many of the director’s films including Trainspotting and The Beach deliver a score that’s in sync with the action.

It begins in an art house as the narrator Simon (McAvoy) educates us about the growth of the heist over the years. We see a couple of thugs walking into the auction rooms in the seventies punch the auctioneer and steal a painting. Cut to the present day and our narrator advises that it’s more difficult to steal these days. The mechanisms of security are then detailed inclusive of the van of henchmen in the van out the back.

Danny Boyle lets loose here, his command of the story, performance and technique are breathtaking. From the opening moments we are thrust into the action. The camera glides as we witness what first appears a heist in the traditional sense. But there is nothing traditional here. This film takes the genre and circumvents it. The narrative is at its core about the theft of a 27 million painting by the artist Goya. But it’s also about greed, revenge, lust and what’s in the corners of our mind.

Vincent Cassel the brilliant French actor appears early as Franck and you know he’s up to no good. Cassel has had a mixed crossover career in English language films but here he scores. Franck is a hard man but Cassel authentically real works the charm. Rosa

V.E.N.O.M -> RE: Trance (10/7/2013 10:26:00 AM)

The relatively long monologue in a dreary Scottish accent opening the film does sound familiar...

Still, really enjoyed it!

endafk -> Terrible movie (11/8/2013 12:44:14 PM)

Really really bad. The flange shaving scene was one of the most embarrassing things I've ever had the misfortune to see. It seems for Empire there are a group of filmmakers who can do no wrong. But this really is the Emperor's New Clothes - nothing to see here.

andef003 -> Trance (27/8/2013 8:48:19 PM)

On my way to America, I had access to some great new films - this one included. Trance is a superb film by Danny Boyle, made famous by his flawless London Olympics Opening Ceremony.

This film has a great plot. Both thought-provoking and confusing, Trance, at times, can be hard to follow but with a strong cast, especially James McAvoy and Rosario Dawson, this film shouldn't be missed.

All three major scenes of torture the black male character went through were reminiscent of the tortures inflicted on black men during slavery and after. Buried alive (as during slavery), genitals destroyed (as during Jim Crow) and trapped in a chair struggling as if being executed on death row (as in the american prison system).

Why, of the members of the gang was the black character selected for all these methods of suffering and destruction. It's basically typical of the desire to see black men destroyed that has pervaded and perverted the whole of western cinema for decades.

The film is deeply racist as well as sexist since its main message is that men are raping murdering monsters that need to be destroyed if they can't be psychologically controlled. All in all a racist feminist propaganda movie posing as a psychological thriller.

Biggus -> RE: Trance (15/12/2013 10:50:08 PM)

Trance is an expertly directed film. It is the work of a film-maker hitting his stride. His confidence in storytelling is concise. His vision is perfectly complimented by the startling cinematography on display and there is no discernible excess fat about which to quibble. Yet Danny Boyle’s Trance doesn’t quite work.

Boyle’s first post-Olympic gig is a twisty tale of the aftermath of an art heist where our protagonist and auction house worker James McAvoy loses his memory during said robbery and the ensuing attempts of its mastermind Vincent Cassell and his cronies to use (following unsuccessfully brutal measures) a hypnotherapist to extract the hiding place of the object of their desire from McAvoy’s fractured psyche.

The initial set-up requires some suspension of common sense and instead of luring you into this universe to ensure buy-in, we’re dropped in feet first without warning and left playing catch-up with trivial matters such as logic. Over the course of the film, dead ends and blind alleys litter the plot but thankfully never truly disorientate the viewer. If there’s one thing Boyle wants, it’s you on his side.

You can’t really complain about the performances either; James McAvoy continues his run as the Scottish DiCaprio and delivers another convincing and intense turn. Vincent Cassell plays Vincent Cassell and Rosario Dawson impresses in the pivotal role of the hypnotherapist. The problem lies in the fact the there just isn’t enough meat on the story’s bones to match Boyle’s talent. He squeezes what he can from the script but it’s very clear from early on that the juice will run out. I can imagine that following his Herculean efforts at the Olympics (natch) that he’d want to settle back with something light but this is not up to scratch. It’s too generic, too convoluted, too preposterous. And above all it’s just plain beneath him.

On the plus side you can always rely on Boyle for an aural treat. Once again he marries an excellent score and soundtrack to his images, at once contemporary yet always leaning towards his indie English heart.

Hopefully for his next film Danny Boyle will do what he does best and plump for the unexpected. No-one saw 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Slumdog Millionaire or 127 Hours coming from the director of Trainspotting and Trance is more the province of a hip young director looking to make his mark on the cinematic landscape. Danny Boyle did this 19 years ago with Shallow Grave. It’s time to get back to business.

kidsam -> Accomplished Deception (25/12/2013 11:26:01 PM)

Danny Boyle's Trance is ultimately a film of deception, both in its content and its relationship with the audience. It begins as a heist movie, but quite quickly the audience finds itself confronted by a psychological thriller, with a protagonist whose involvement becomes increasingly ambiguous.

Boyle approaches the film with appropriate subtleties; he applies intricate camera work as well as an engaging aesthetic which continually accommodate the introspective subject matter. The film’s complexities constructively drive the narrative and although at times they appear to be quite abstract, like the dream sequences which heavily feature, they never manage to overwhelm the plot.

During its climax, the film manages to unravel quite elegantly. It maintains its pace but increases in intensity with a sudden redistribution of power. This also works to bring to light the truth which had been previously misconstrued by the narrative. As the audience now attentively listens to Elizabeth's (Dawson) revealing monologue, it feels as though their patience is being rewarded. However the physical finale isn't quite as exciting, even though it serves its purpose; a car, a gun and a fire just felt a little too familiar.

The films biggest accomplishment lies within its characterisation. It eventually becomes evident that although all characters become victims of their counterparts, their antagonistic qualities are in fact so great that they outweigh any sympathy that might have been reserved for them. To write a film featuring three antagonists is a challenge in itself, but to successfully deceive the audience of this fact until its final minutes is a striking achievement.

Unsurprisingly, the hand-picked cast does little wrong. Both Dawson and Cassel create an alluring on-screen persona, while McAvoy's interpretation of duality would have made fellow Scot, the late Robert Louis Stevenson proud.